Partial support is requested to host a Conference on the Molecular Biology of Hearing and Deafness, to be held under the aegis of the University of California, San Diego, in May of 1992. The specific aims of this symposium are to encourage the utilization of molecular biology techniques in research on hearing and deafness, to facilitate interaction and collaboration between different laboratories engaged in molecular biology research in the auditory system, to foster collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians with related interests in the molecular biology of deafness, and to obtain an unbiased and critical appraisal of molecular biology research currently being performed in the auditory system. An additional goal is to provide a training in state-of-the-art molecular biology techniques through hands-on workshops. Recent developments in molecular biology will be reviewed by experts who work in other systems. Free papers will be solicited and abstracts reviewed for selection. The proceedings of this conference will be published in a timely manner so that ideas and controversies emerging from the meeting will be widely disseminated.